Shloka 15
Janamejaya’s Appeal for Pacification and Śaunaka’s Counsel on Humility (जनमेजय-शौनक संवादः)
दत्तमाहारमिच्छामि त्वया क्षुद् बाधते हि माम् । स तद्वचः प्रतिश्रुत्य वाक्यमाह विहड्भम:
dattam āhāram icchāmi tvayā kṣud bādhate hi mām | sa tad-vacaḥ pratiśrutya vākyam āha vihaṅgamaḥ, sañcayo nāsti cāsmākaṃ munīnām iva bhojane |
Ele disse: “Quero comer o alimento que puderes dar, pois a fome de fato me atormenta.” Ouvindo isso, a ave respondeu: “Irmão, não temos riqueza nem provisões guardadas para afastar tua fome. Somos aves da floresta; vivemos apenas do que recolhemos a cada dia. Como os ascetas, não mantemos reserva de alimento.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights aparigraha (not hoarding) and the ethical tension of hospitality: a forest creature lives day-to-day without stored provisions, resembling ascetics, yet must respond compassionately to a hungry guest.
A hungry visitor asks for food. The bird replies that it has no stored supplies—only what it gathers daily—framing its simple livelihood and setting up the moral challenge of how to offer hospitality despite scarcity.